KABUL: The back-and-forth between the tense neighbours continued to unfold on Thursday as Afghanistan hit back at Pakistan after a shrine bombing killed at least 55 people in Kabul, saying it was up to Islamabad to act after a Pakistani group purportedly took responsibility.
In reply, an irritated Pakistan called for an end to this “blame game”.
Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan had urged Afghanistan to provide hard evidence to support claims that Sunni militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was behind the devastating attack on Shias after President Hamid Karzai demanded justice.
But in a developing war of words between the neighbours, whose relations are frequently tense, Kabul said on Thursday that it was up to Pakistan to investigate without waiting any longer. “It was the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi which claimed responsibility,” Aimal Faizi, Karzai’s spokesperson told AFP.
“It’s up to Pakistan to take action and find out where and how the contact was made by Lashkar-i-Jhangvi from inside Pakistan. They shouldn’t wait for us to provide them with evidence.”
Meanwhile, Islamabad called for an end to the “blame game” after Kabul demanded action against the group.
“It is high time to get out of the blame game as such and to move forward in the spirit of cooperation,” said foreign office spokesman Abdul Basit.
“Publicly accusing Pakistan of unfounded events will create problems at some stage,” he told reporters.
“We would like to have a relationship that is free of recrimination and blame game,” Basit added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2011.
COMMENTS (21)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
@Faisal: "Pakistan decision should be packing up all the Afghani’s living on Pakistan soil and push them back in Afghanistan, that would be the biggest gift for them " And this, after Syed loudly proclaimed "hell YES, we have shared, eat the meals with them…" and afterwards even importantly " made tea’s for them to drink".* Between the two of you when did all that "bhaichara" evaporate? Did Amin who came after Syed ("So it is not surprising kabul wants answers ...") have something to do with this rather sudden about-face? Afghans are perhaps still reeling!!!!
Kabul is "acting",While Pakistan has done her job honestly.....
Karzai wishful thinking that Pakistan would act against LeJ or any other militant organisation except TTP is misplaced. The military has adopted the policy of taking on the outfits who enter into direct conflict with the state but others are considered as bosom friends, a misconception which may turn into a nightmare for the whole country one day.
Pakistan decision should be packing up all the Afghani's living on Pakistan soil and push them back in Afghanistan, that would be the biggest gift for them
After all they have claimed respondibility. So it is not surprising kabul wants answers as This lej group is in pakistan.
@Santaa Singh: does the name sound like Sardar's name? Santa or Banta Singh whoever you are... kindly read Afghans history on when they fought with Sikhs. BTW... whats wrong with Big brother? How many Afghans have you sat with and have eaten/shared meal or a tea... Afghans are VERY hard working people - to give you an example - when houses are built in Pakistan - alot of Afghan work force work on daily wages and hell YES, we have shared, eat the meals with them... made tea's for them to drink. Rather than just cultivating hatered between Pakistan and Afghanistan, please read and understand the cultural of Afghans and Pakistani Pathan. I hate to say but you sound more like a person in denial.
Denial number 1,000,001.
@LOK:
Hopefully that's not a reference to sending in militant 'strategic assets', like Haqqani 'Sahib', to harm and shutup Afghans and their institutions, like we punished Saleem Shahzad's 'rhetoric'.
We know what to do with Afghan rhetoric...
Let's not be hypocritical. The corrupt Karzai probably knows a lot more than our own corrupt anti-Indian paranoid establishment is willing to admit.
Did Pakistan even know who was in Abbottabad, just a mile away from our army academy, but were more paranoid about CIA doctors than actual terrorists living nearby and violating our sovereignty?
Do Pakistanis know what goes on in their own country? That their Punjab government was paying a stipend to notorious sectarian terrorist suspect and LeJ founder, Malik Ishaq, while in jail. He was then released by the inept courts, and a mainstream politician when asked about the stipend point blank lied about it being mandated by court order. This Jhang based organization with known links to Al Qaeda and Taliban has now expanded into Karachi, Quetta, Kurram and other parts of the country. Seems house arrest has had little impact, and it would be foolish not to consider the possibility of their expansion into Afghanistan. Equally absurd is that the negative reactions sound more like defending L-e-J than in denying culpability, whom no one directly implied at all, but the reactions make it seem so and look even more guilty.
It at least merits further serious and responsible investigation instead of feigning over-reactionary defensive indignation over a terrorist organization that has also caused us harm...or have we inadvertently with our reaction finally showed another side, questionable loyalty and sympathy...?
@Farhan: Pakistan is a big brother ??????? Aren't you far assuming ? You really thing Afghans look at you as big brother ? Being a nuisance does not make you big brother, just an irritant neighbor with which Afghans are stuck with.
An anonymous caller to western news organizations has claimed that the coordinated anti-Shia attacks in three Afghan cities was the work of a long-defunct Pakistan-based group that has never acted outside the country before.
No one has verified the caller but US media and Afghan officials were quick to jump on this ‘evidence’ to implicate Pakistan.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai played smart after the attacks. He cancelled his UK trip and skillfully diverted attention toward Pakistan. By doing this, he protected his inept and corrupt security services and the equally incompetent foreign security forces that can’t even secure the capital.
Islamabad must take a tough stand on the repeated unsubstantiated accusations that Afghan officials hurl at Pakistan. Already Pakistan is dealing with Afghan safe havens where anti-Pakistan terrorists plan and execute attacks on Pakistan, and the Afghan soil is being used against us. Islamabad has already provided US-controlled Afghanistan many trade concessions under the Transit Trade Agreement, often hurting Pakistanir business. Pakistan should be ready to withdraw facilities under that deal if Kabul’s anti-Pakistan posture persists.
The Afghani warlords are part of the government and work closely with US military and CIA. This new terror wave serves to push a weak Obama administration to heed military’s desire for a prolonged engagement.
Pakistan can’t be implicated in the attack because Islamabad wants foreign forces to leave and Tuesday’s attacks only serve to provide US military another excuse to stay. So, it is important to understand who benefits from this new trend in attacks, especially targeting Afghan Shias. Afghan resistance groups did not indulge in sectarian attacks since the start of the conflict in 2001. Question is: if they didn’t do it for a decade, why now?
Raising sectarian tensions in the region is part of US military psy-ops to mobilize majority Sunni countries against Shia Iran. Sectarian attacks were unheard of before US military and intelligence teams landed in Iraq in 2003. Some factions of the Taliban did indulge in atrocities against Afghan Shias in late 1990s. But in the ten years since the removal of the Afghan Taliban government, there hasn’t been a single attack targeting Shias.
Afghan warlords, US military and CIA are increasingly acting as a single front in Afghanistan. They are trying to open a new war front with Pakistan and are suspected of having killed former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani because his agenda was closer to Pakistan’s and his peace efforts with Pashtuns and Taliban ran contrary to the interests of warlords and the interests of US military in a long term presence in the country. [See Rabbani Was Killed By US, Afghan Proxies And Pakistan Should Accuse Pentagon, CIA Of Rabbani Murder].
To bring Pakistan under pressure, the US and Afghan commentators are trying to link the carnage to a defunct Pakistani sectarian group. But it is easy to debunk this theory.
Murder in the name of what? Pakistan's warped ideology will eventually destroy it.
Taleban ( Afghan ) : is a freedom fighter force but Taleban ( Pakistan) TTP : are terrorists, who have also being thanked by Mr Rehman
similarly
LeJ ( Afghan ) is a religious, charity organization ( like LeT ) but LeJ ( Pakistan ) is a sectarian organization.
Please correct me if i am wrong.
Pakistan should investigate the same way NATO & US are investigating killing of 24 Pakistani soilders by NATO and believe me we will get the same result, i.e. core involvement of the foreign occupants in both cases.
Pakistan must help Afghan govt to punish those who did such blatant attacks on innocent Afghans. President Karzai should also work out his plan before pointing fingers to Pakistan.
Despite all the problems, Pakistan being a big brother should help poor afghans because this terrorism would also burn us if it gets uncontrollable in our neighbourhood.
----->>>>What about the incompetency of Afghan security establishment ------->>> What about the incompetency of Us and Nato led forces in Afghanistan there were so much hope after the fall of Taliban regime that will bring a developmental change ,it rather further divided the Afghans and Corruption at all levels. ----- Who ever are responsible for this massacre , the belong to none , to not any faith , they are just Barbaric fanatics .......
What has then Achieved by International forces and USA ,even if cannot protect the heart the Afghanistan , They should questioned , its not that Pakistan is clean from terrorist mind set , yet you canot just just Pakistan as scapegoat for every thing, And Pakistan must help Afghans ,
But one must remember that , Its 70 percent of Afghanistan is in control of Taliban , instead of created hate on Both side Hamid Karzia sab, do something competent ,something workable , Dnt forget you had been in Pakistan with Peace
Take your time, Pakistan doesn't need you anyway,